A federal judge blocked the most controversial provisions of a restrictive New York gun law that asks applicants to meet a number of requirements in order to obtain a concealed carry permit on Thursday.
Issued by U.S. District Court Judge Glenn T. Suddaby, the ruling temporarily halts the enforcement of several provisions of the state’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act. Parts of the law invalidated by Suddaby include the disclosure of social media accounts, as well as of the identities of relatives — including spouses — by permit applicants. Applicants also no longer have to demonstrate their “good moral character” in interviews with local officials to qualify for a license.
Notably, the law had required that gun owners be specifically authorized to carry firearms on private property, a stipulation Suddaby struck down in favor of allowing home and business owners to instead issue an explicit ban on their property if they so choose.
“The State of New York is now making a decision for private property owners that they are perfectly able to make for themselves,” Suddaby wrote in his decision. He gave the state three days to file an appeal.
The law, which went into effect on September 1, was enacted as a response to the Supreme Court’s declaration that a New York law requiring a license to carry concealed weapons in public places was unconstitutional.
A group of New York gun owners spearheaded the legal challenge to the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, with the primary plaintiff being Ivan Antonyuk, a resident who argued that the law’s prohibition on carrying guns on private property without explicit permission violated rights granted to him by the Second Amendment. Antonyuk sued over the law once before, but Suddaby ruled that his petition was irrelevant because the measure had not yet gone into effect.
Suddaby’s order now allows gun-carrying in recreational settings, areas where alcoholic beverages are consumed, and other venues. The state also can’t enforce the part of the law that designates busy Manhattan tourist hub Times Square as a “gun free zone,” the judge said. However, Suddaby maintained the ban on carrying firearms in public or private educational facilities, polling places, government administrative buildings, permitted special events, and public meeting places.
In response to the ruling, Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik wrote in a statement: “We are one step closer to ending Corrupt Kathy Hochul’s assault on our fundamental Second Amendment rights and restoring the rights of New Yorkers.”
“Since the beginning, I have stood up against Hochul’s shameful attempt to shred our Constitution when she doubled down on her unconstitutional gun ban even after the United States Supreme Court struck it down,” added Stefanik.